When Dimitri Telegonus is promoted to the Serious Unsolved Crime Unit to investigate the disappearance of a beautiful blonde escort, he thinks he’s finally made the big time. He’d always wanted to do detective work; thought it was his destiny.

But things quickly start to unravel. His assigned partner is an uninterested dinosaur and when progress in the investigation is slow, the bosses threaten to pull the plug.

Book Review:

It's been a bit of a wait for the arrival of what seems to be the first crime fiction novel, DETECTIVE WORK from Australian author John Dale. Well enough worth the wait to wonder why it's taken so long, and to certainly hope that it's the beginning of a new series.

There's nothing about DETECTIVE WORK that reads like a debut at all. A police procedural in form, the novel packs a punch on all fronts - plot, character and style. Set around the now well-known area of Cold Crimes, Dimitri Telegonus is the new kid on the bloke, recently promoted, paired with your classic old, bitter, cynical, filling in time style cop. A cliché that runs the risk of being decidedly formulaic, although this outing is written with a wonderful sense of humour and fun which lifts the working relationship out of the predicted, into something realistic and involving.

The pressure from on high to get results is yet again another well-worked scenario, but way that Telegonus reacts to the possibility of a job move is elegantly portrayed - shoving yet another potential been-there-done-that moment to the side well and truly.

What really works in this novel is the characterisations. One new to the job, sincere, dedicated, hard working and incredibly naive. The other old, tired, disinterested and unmotivated play off each other really well. There is energy and vitality to the way that the relationship plays out, with very entertaining storytelling to boot. The sense of humour is fabulous, the dry observations, comments and wits part of the attraction. The plot of cold case scenarios is well drawn and the links between the past and the present believable and easy to follow.

There's so much potential in this novel that you really cannot help but hope it's either the beginning of a good new Australian series, or at least the heralding of yet more crime fiction from John Dale.

Used to think I'd be able to keep up with the local crime writing output. Didn't realise I was quite that delusional. This is one from last year that I blinked and missed.

From the Blurb:

When Dimitri Telegonus is promoted to the Serious Unsolved Crime Unit to investigate the disappearance of a beautiful blonde escort, he thinks he’s finally made the big time. He’d always wanted to do detective work; thought it was his destiny.

When Dimitri Telegonus is promoted to the Serious Unsolved Crime Unit to investigate the disappearance of a beautiful blonde escort, he thinks he’s finally made the big time. He’d always wanted to do detective work; thought it was his destiny.

But things quickly start to unravel. His assigned partner is an uninterested dinosaur and when progress in the investigation is slow, the bosses threaten to pull the plug.

HUCKSTEPP: A Dangerous Life, John Dale

A powerful blend of biography and the detective novel, Huckstepp investigates the murder of a charismatic woman who has fascinated many Australians since she first appeared on national television to accuse New South Wales detectives of shooting her boyfriend, Warren Lanfranchi, in cold blood. Throughout her short life, Sallie-Anne Huckstepp lived a dangerous existence. This is a true story, brilliantly told, of a courageous woman who spoke out against corruption and murder.

Book Review:

Looking back at the life, and death in 1986 of Sallie-Anne Huckstepp there's a sense of inevitability about her destiny, a long time before she went on television to accuse NSW detectives of shooting her boyfriend in cold blood. HUCKSTEPP is an excellent book of its type - part biography, part investigation into Huckstepp, and her death, the book looks honestly at Sallie-Anne herself, as well as the crooks, cops and colleagues that she had close contact with over her life.

Given that there's never been an answer to who killed Huckstepp, this book seems to come as close as we're ever going to come to understanding what happened and why. It certainly does a number of notorious NSW cop and criminal "identities" no favours in its portrayal of them. It also is no whitewash of Sallie-Anne herself. Perhaps the only minor objection would be that its not until the very end that there's much light cast on what got Sallie-Anne into the life that ultimately killed her. I would have liked to have known a little bit more about Sallie-Anne the person, rather than Sallie-Anne the "identity", although I could also see that it might not have been so easy to get to the truth of that.

A Powerful blend of biography and the detective novel, HUCKSTEPP investigates the murder of a charismatic woman who has fascinated Australians since she first appeared on national television to accuse New South Wales detectives of shooting her boyfriend, Warren Lanfranchi, in cold blood.

Throughout her short life, Sallie-Ann Huckstepp lived a dangerous existence. This is a true story of a woman who spoke out against corruption and murder.

When a young Asian student is strangled, Nickie Taroney suspects the killer may be a cop. On the case is Terry Dedovic. There is something about him Nickie doesn't trust. Where exactly do his loyalties lie? When Nickie gets involved in a risky relationship, her suspicions are confirmed.

Jack Buturow, employed as a bouncer in a Sydney casino, is hiding from his former life. Despite himself, he becomes involved in the investigation of the death of a friend. During his quest, he confronts Vietnamese gangsters, corrupt cops, psychotic bikers - and a woman whose life mirrors his own.

Author of the acclaimed crime expose, Huckstepp, John Dale Skilfully turns his pen to an intriguing blend of mystery, travel and memoir. Stunningly imagined, Dale re-creates the life and death of his grandfather. At 7a.m. on 16 May 1942 forty-year-old Harvey Malcolm was found in the front seat of his Chevrolet parked outside a young woman's house in Launceston with a bullet wound in his left temple and a .22 calibre rifle lying across his knees. Was it murder or suicide? Sixty-two years later his grandson returns to Tasmania to investigate the unsolved death.